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Saturday, 12 November 2011

Technological Takeover

Remember the days when phone boxes had a home on every street corner and landlines were all we had unless you were some high flying adult with a business to run which often meant that you were one of the lucky individuals to be up to date with technology, meaning that you were lucky enough have a mobile phone that was the size of a brick if not bigger that could be cemented into the exterior wall of your home. As un-cool as that may sound, at the time these were cool and innovative pieces of technology!

Over the years these phones got smaller and smaller and smarter and smarter, so the iconic red phone boxes on every street corner became fewer and fewer as everyone and their grandmamma jumped on the mobile band wagon for the latest and coolest phones that hit the high streets so they could play a game of snake, or have the latest ringtones. Fast forward about a decade from that and here we are today, a global community spoilt for choice of networks and mobile phones with apps coming out of our ears! So it comes as no surprise when one of the leading mobile brands of today decided to rebel against the software system, that a large proportion of society almost lost the will to go on.

A few weeks ago the infamous BlackBerry (BB) Phones went slightly crazy, causing inconvenience to the lives of many.

BB’s are phones that have been very popular in the States for a while now, they used to be a business or rich persons luxury which then became a desired product that all the Celeb’s were using and you know how this world works, once the celeb’s get Papped with something, it’s never long before the rest of the world wants it! Before you could say Bob’s your uncle BB’s became a hyped craze that hopped, skipped and jumped across the pond which now has one to many of us under CrackBerry fever!!

Yes even I got caught up on this BlackBerry Hype! All the networks just made it too easy not to! They give you the phone for free, a bunch of talk time, texts and unlimited internet! It was just too good an opportunity to pass up. So here I am 3 years later and dying to get out of my 24 month contract so that I can downgrade to a phone that reminds me of a simpler time. Maybe 3 years ago when I left university a BB was the greatest option for a determined gal like moi who worked 3 voluntary jobs at once, all whilst working part time and applying for paid jobs almost every day without fail, at this time my BB was like my right arm, I ALWAYS needed it. But fast forward a couple of years and I almost can’t stand the bloody thing!

At this time in my life I feel I have little time and space for my time to be taken up by my BB. I no longer have my emails pinging down the place every 2 minutes and unlike many others, I treat my BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) pin like it’s my phone number. In other words, if we chat over the phone or have much to say to one another face to face, then what could we possibly have to discuss on BBM? Some might say that I’m taking it all too seriously, but seriously dude, I’m not into this irregular chat business, and unnecessary broadcasts are what Facebook and Twitter are for!

Now I get that I am a small percentage of the CrackBerry Society that feels this way but I cannot be the only one who is ready to break this dirty little habit ok checking their phone every time they see that little red light flashing or diving for their phone every time they hear a familiar sound for the BB notification of a text, BBM, Facebook, email, Twitter or What’s App message!

There have been countless times when I have been out with a group of friends and suddenly a death of silence has fallen as everyone’s eyes and minds are fixated on their BB’s! Classic CrackBerry behaviour.

But after the breakdown in BB’s methods of communication that took place the other week I have come to realise that so many of us have become so dependent on this little piece of technology that it’s concerning!

Friends of mine who are non BB users asked me with great concern in their eyes how I coped when BB was going through its difficult time? (It was like there was a death and surely I must have been distraught!) My response was, “Erm fine…” In all honesty for the first few days I didn’t even realise that there was a problem with the phones as I have learnt how to detach myself from it.

But please be aware that this reaction was MY reaction and when I logged onto Facebook and Twitter I realised it wasn’t quite the reaction of others.

May I kindly point out that during this difficult time BB users were still able to send and receive texts, and make and receive phone calls. Seriously people, what was all the fuss about! If it was so important that you had access to your emails, Twitter, Facebook and what not, then log on to a bloody computer! That’s what we had to do before phones had advanced internet options, and before the internet existed we had to write bloody letters and make phone calls! I for one personally found the reaction of many CrackBerry users VERY concerning and still do. God forbid what would happen if I-Phones and BB’s collapsed at the same time.

These days technology is so advanced in so many ways that it amazes me but it also worries me. Everything and everyone is so accessible. To a certain extent I’m a hypocrite as if it wasn’t for the development and advancement in technology I wouldn’t even have a blog, but sometimes I can’t help but feel that technology is a gift as well as a curse.

Since the rise of Facebook, Twitter, BB and all other smart phones and social networks, there have been countless scandalous uploads of photos, videos and voice recordings of local people from our communities spreading their legs and flashing what lies in between, exposing upper body parts and taking part in sexual acts only for them to spread like wildfire across social networks in the race to become the next big thing to rise to fame by whoring themselves out! Surely this cannot be a pro of technology can it?

Putting aside the scandal that technology helps advance, I also find concerning the amount of things that technology can do. The amount of aps that are out there is ridiculous; many in my opinion are pointless and also promote laziness! I can just see it years from now a world full of overweight people who no longer have the need to move as there will be an app to even go to the toilet for them and then another app to wipe their arse!

If it’s not new inventions on of the internet, its video games becoming more and more vivid and like life, electronic books that you can download and electronic cars that you don’t need to drive, Baby… they drive you!!

In all seriousness, I do think technology is fantastic, it allows me to stay in instant contact with my family and friends all over the world, it allows people to find love in a place that has not always been an option, it presents people with opportunities that can change their lives as well as the lives of others, but it also makes me worry about the physical and intellectual state of the human race in years to come. If everything can be done for us at the click of a button it means we now have less and less reason to leave the house. We can do our shopping online, we can download books and we can video chat just to name a few.

Our brains, bodies and the outdoors are fighting a battle against the advancement of technology. I’m not saying don’t embrace technology, but I am saying that we should start to exercise our minds and bodies a lot more! So put down the BB’s, I-phone’s, I-Pads, laptops, X-Boxes and whatever else and engage your mind and body and do something that doesn’t rely on technology, before your mind and body forgets all its magnificent capabilities that are so far removed and unique than anything man could ever make!